An Ideal CTC: Strategies for Community Development from Austin Community Technology Centers

Vision and Community Ownership

A community-based organization's staff must have a clear vision of their organization that sees the center as a member of its community. The center must cultivate a sense of belonging in all visitors - the community must feel a sense of ownership. A sense of vision and ownership can only be developed if the CTC is familiar with and dedicated to community needs through a clear outline of objectives and constant attention to changes in the community.

The ideal CTC would have volunteers and staff who are personally invested in the community.

Staff members and volunteers would either live in that neighborhood or actively participate in area events and community life. Employee and volunteer familiarity with the neighborhood is paramount to creating an organization that ranks the needs of the neighborhood and cultivates relationships between participants and staff.

Assets we observed:

RCYF and United Way Tech Tots staff spend both personal and professional time in the communities where they work.
RCYF employees visit area churches, family residences and work with area public schools.
Reverend Carrington at Sweet Home lives next to the church that houses the technology program.

Barriers CTCs face:

To have staff with specialized skills, CTCs may have to hire individuals not familiar with that area. Although this is not a problem initially, it becomes an issue when staff members do not then work to familiarize themselves and get involved with that particular community.

The ideal CTC would proactively incorporate community input into decisions.

A regular feedback mechanism such as a survey or interview is important to ensuring that the organization consistently responds to community needs and concerns.

Assets we observed:

The Tech Tots program at ABC uses a sophisticated feedback survey at different stages throughout the participants' involvement.
ALA continually surveys participants and adds programs based on their responses.

Barriers CTCs face:

CTCs without feedback mechanisms in place run the risk of not responding effectively to community desires and changes in need. CTCs who are dependent on major funders with specific requirements may not be able to adjust programs to meet community needs.

The ideal CTC sees itself as an integrated part of the community.

A formal mission statement as well as a consistent plan to keep all learning opportunities connected to community needs is crucial. Community members should be aware of the organization, its location, and its programs.

Assets we observed:

Sweet Home's technology facility is integrated into the congregation because the Reverend runs the CTC.
RCYF was created with the explicit goal to establish a "safe place" for kids within its targeted community.
CTCs such as Sweet Home, Austin Eastside Story, RCYF, and Foundation Communities were all established to directly serve the neighborhoods in which they reside.
Austin Eastside Story was initially created to provide after-school care and expose children to technology, but they created the Digital Workforce Academy to meet adult needs when the community requested job skills training.

Barriers CTCs face:

Lack of mutual understanding between participants and staff. Staff members are not given enough time or training and education to address the needs of participants. CTCs that focus solely on technology skills can miss out on opportunities to meet community needs.

The ideal CTC would foster a sense of ownership in participants and other community members.

Visitors come to the center to learn and to connect with other community members. Participants are active in constructing the identity of the center. Simply put, participants believe the organization is their own.

Assets we observed:

Austin Learning Academy participants are currently producing information and cultural content for ALA's website.
Wired for Youth participants had the opportunity to name a new initiative targeted towards young women.
American YouthWorks is located downtown to create a neutral territory where students of all ethnic backgrounds can feel comfortable and claim the space as their own.

Barriers CTCs face:

An absence of partnership between the CTC and community members. CTCs that do not control the space where their program is offered cannot offer as many opportunities to "claim" the organization.

The ideal CTC would give community members the power to make decisions.

Active community participation and involvement from the board of directors to the volunteer level is important to assuring individuals feel a sense of ownership.

Assets we observed:

American YouthWorks depends on student input and uses their Student Policy Council to determine specific community projects to pursue.
Wired For Youth has actively sought the input of students in the direction the program has taken. Their Youth Advisory Council meets on the first Friday of each month to decide which programs will be offered.
Foundation Communities has residents on the board of directors and includes them in program planning.

Barriers CTCs face:

CTC staff and participants are not familiar with management staff and therefore are not familiar with how to affect the CTC and its operations. Board members selected for the resources they bring to the organization may exclude participants. Use of only external volunteers leaves out community members.

Future Research

Observations about vision and community ownership were gathered by all members of the research team through staff and executive director interviews, as well as during time spent in the centers. However, constructs to gauge if an organization exhibited vision and planning in its efforts, and if community members felt they owned the organization, were not sufficiently explicit in survey questions. Though we saw numerous examples of how strong vision and ownership increased community development, our survey questions focused on the organization's relationship with the community. We did not collect information very well about the overall goals and plan of the CTCs we worked with.

An Ideal CTC: Strategies for Community Development from Austin Community Technology Centers

Vision and Community Ownership

The ideal CTC would have volunteers and staff who are personally invested in the community.

The ideal CTC would proactively incorporate community input into decisions.

The ideal CTC sees itself as an integrated part of the community.

The ideal CTC would foster a sense of ownership in participants and other community members.

The ideal CTC would give community members the power to make decisions.

Future Research

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